All things freshwater: news, analysis, humor, reviews, and commentary from Michael E. 'Aquadoc' Campana, hydrogeologist, hydrophilanthropist, Professor of Hydrogeology and Water Resources Management in the Geography Program of the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences (CEOAS) at Oregon State University and Emeritus Professor of Hydrogeology at the University of New Mexico. He is Past President of the American Water Resources Association (AWRA), Past Chair of the Scientists & Engineers Division of the National Ground Water Association (NGWA), Past President of the nonprofit NGWA Foundation and President and Founder the nonprofit Ann Campana Judge Foundation, an organization involved with WaSH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) in Central America. He serves on the Steering Committee of the Global Water Partnership (GWP). CYA statement: with the exception of guest posts, the opinions expressed herein are solely those of Michael E. Campana and not those of CEOAS, Oregon State University, ACJF, AWRA, NGWA, GWP, my spouse Mary Frances, or any other person or organization.

Texas Agriculture Law BlogDon't let the name fool you - there are lots of water issues in agriculture and Tiffany Dowell of Texas A&M University does a fabulous job with this important Internet resource. Give it a read - I do every day!

The Way of WaterDr. Jennifer Veilleux records her fieldwork, research, and thoughts about water resources development and management, indigenous rights, ethics, and a host of other issues.

Thirsty in SuburbiaGayle Leonard documents things from the world of water that make us smile: particularly funny, amusing and weird items on bottled water, water towers, water marketing, recycling, the art-water nexus and working.

This Day in Water HistoryMichael J. 'Mike' McGuire, engineer extraordinaire, NAE member, and author of 'The Chlorine Revolution', blogs about historical happenings in the fields of drinking water and wastewater keyed to calendar dates.

Watershed Moments: Thoughts from the HydrosphereFrom Sarah Boon - rediscovering her writing and editing roots after 13 years, primarily as an environmental scientist. Her writing centres around creative non-fiction, specifically memoir and nature writing. The landscapes of western Canada are her main inspiration.

WaterWiredAll things freshwater: news, comment, publications and analysis from hydrogeologist Michael E. Campana, Professor at Oregon State University and Technical Director of the AWRA.

7 posts from March 1, 2020 - March 7, 2020

Saturday, 07 March 2020

This is a list to catch up on the opportunities without deadlines that I didn’t have time for earlier this week (and somewhat US-centric, because I was really behind with those, so apologies it's not more balanced). Just a good reminder that when there is no deadline, apply as soon as you can, because you don’t know when they will pull the announcement from their website. A few other jobs were submitted in the interim with deadlines that are included below.

The links below represent the week's water news as represented by my Tweets. I do not pretend that this survey is a comprehensive survey of the water news; it's my attempt to keep my readers informed to the best of my ability and available time.

Scroll down to 'Positions Open' and 'Previous Weeks' Positions Open' to see the jobs. All my individual job Tweets are archived at #JobWaWi. Previous weekly summaries are archived at: #WaWiNews or click here.

Free webinar from @CA_DWR: Thursday, 12 March, 11 AM -12:30 PM PDT: 'DWR's Water Budget Handbook Briefing' It will provide an overview of the Handbook and how it can be used to develop water budgets by local water agencies http://bit.ly/3cC9095

Free webinar from @CA_DWR: Thursday, 12 March, 11 AM -12:30 PM PDT: 'DWR's Water Budget Handbook Briefing' It will provide an overview of the Handbook and how it can be used to develop water budgets by local water agencies http://bit.ly/3cC9095

From @CaptDocMikeThis Day in Water History - 3 March. 1906: Birth of Robert E. Hungate, Grandfather of Anaerobic Microbiology; 1879: U.S. Geological Survey Established; 1899: Rivers and Harbors Act Passed by Congress http://bit.ly/2wvIptW#TDIWH

E-Newsletters and E-NewspapersIt's @NatureBriefing - 6 March 2020 First person to have CRISPR–Cas9 gene therapy administered directly into body, learn that we are destroying tropical rainforests’ ability to absorb C, children are just as likely to get infected w/ coronavirus as adults http://bit.ly/2TxNt

It's @natureBriefing - 5 March 2020. Today we learn how much climate change raised the risk of extreme fires in Australia, explore a proposed law to make the European Union carbon-neutral by 2050 & read all about the new golden age of neutron-star physics http://bit.ly/2PSWGHT

It's @natureBriefing - 4 March 2020. Today we learn that a window is opening to visit Neptune and Uranus, hear that Honeywell is launching the world’s most powerful quantum computer and celebrate two weeks without a reported case of Ebola in the DRC. http://bit.ly/2PLMeBZ

It's @natureBriefing - 3 March 2020. Early Earth might have been almost devoid of land,coronavirus infections have passed 90,000, what Nobel-prizewinning chemist Frances Arnold and other senior scientists learnt from the experience of retracting a paper http://bit.ly/2wqNzam

It's @natureBriefing - 2 March 2020. Today we learn that world’s biggest physics meeting has been cancelled over coronavirus fears,explore repositories for life-sciences imaging data and discover how to find grants,fellowships for early-career researchers http://bit.ly/2I97ihw

Personal, People, Interviews, and Quotes"The college won’t reimburse travel without proof you attended the conference and we have banned travel to your conference because of the Coronavirus." - @ass_deans

"One hand washes the other and both wash the face.” – Spanish proverb

“In the year 1500 AD Europe knew less than Archimedes who died in the year 212 BC.” – Alfred North Whitehead

GWP's Executive Secretary & CEO @MonikaWeberFahr will be stepping down effective 30 June 2020. “The last years have been exciting, being able to help reinvigorate GWP...My time at @GWPnewshas been one of joy,” said Weber-Fahr. She'll be missed; thank you! cc:@GWPCEE

“You are piling up a heritage of conflict and litigation over water rights for there is not sufficient water to supply the land.” – John Wesley Powell, 1893

"So little done, so much to do."- Cecil Rhodes

"Please send the cash value for the @kroger’s gift card you received for your talk to the college’s student chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America. Otherwise you are in violation of the college’s ethics code." - @ass_deans

"This world is not one, in which certainty is possible. If you think you've achieved certainty, you are almost certainly mistaken, and that is one of the few things you could be certain about." - Bernard Russell

"Where you see global health pandemic, I see an opportunity for our public health faculty to bring in external grant funding and indirect to the college." - @ass_deans

"Mathematics is the language with which God has written the universe." -Galileo Galilei

Although EPA’s strategic goals call for increasing use of these two types of informal activities, it hasn’t given regional offices clear and complete guidance on how to track and monitor them. We recommended EPA create guidelines to ensure it has data it needs to track these activities.

What GAO FoundThe Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) collects a range of information on compliance and enforcement such as data on inspections, violations, and enforcement actions. The agency uses these data to manage its efforts and assess progress in meeting the agency's strategic objectives. In an August 2018 memorandum, EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) reported a key strategic change to increase compliance assistance activities (e.g., training) and informal enforcement actions (e.g., warning letters). However, the agency does not consistently collect or maintain data on either type of action (see figure). Specifically, OECA has not directed regional offices to collect or report data on compliance assistance activities since 2012 and, consequently, does not have guidance instructing regional offices to collect such data and specifying which mechanism offices should use to maintain these data. Also, the agency did not provide guidance to those offices defining informal enforcement actions or how to maintain data on them until September 30, 2019, but the guidance does not specify how to collect data on such actions. By clearly documenting in guidance how the offices should use the definition to collect data on such actions, EPA could more consistently collect these data.

Note: The collection of informal enforcement data varied across different EPA programs due to differing definitions of informal enforcement actions until EPA's September 30, 2019, guidance providing a single definition.

As the figure shows, OECA does not require regional offices to collect data on compliance assistance or complete data on informal enforcement actions. Having complete information about its compliance assistance activities and informal enforcement is essential because EPA has elevated the role of such activities in its overall enforcement efforts. However, because EPA is not consistently collecting these data, the agency cannot be sure it is achieving its strategic objectives. EPA would have better assurance it has the information it needs by clearly documenting in guidance to the regional offices that they should:

2) specify which mechanism to use to maintain compliance assistance data.

By doing so, EPA would have better assurance that the regional offices consistently collect and maintain these data in order to track progress toward the agency's strategic objective of increasing the use of such activities and actions.

Why GAO Did This StudyEnforcing environmental laws and regulations, including those governing water, air, and hazardous waste, is a central part of EPA's mission. In partnership with states, EPA oversees compliance with these requirements for about 800,000 regulated entities, such as refineries and sewage treatment plants. OECA carries out much of EPA's compliance and enforcement responsibilities through the agency's 10 regional offices. OECA has a range of compliance assistance, compliance monitoring, and enforcement tools available to elicit compliance with laws and regulations from regulated entities. These tools include conducting on-site inspection, training staff and providing technical assistance, developing cases, and issuing warning letters.

GAO was asked to review EPA's enforcement efforts. This report examines, among other objectives, the types of information EPA collects on its compliance assistance, compliance monitoring, and enforcement actions. GAO analyzed written responses to its questions from all 10 regional offices, reviewed agency documents and databases, and interviewed EPA officials in headquarters and regional offices.

What GAO RecommendsGAO is making three recommendations to EPA, including that it should clearly document in guidance to its regional offices that they should collect data on compliance assistance activities and informal enforcement actions and specify which mechanism to use to maintain compliance assistance data. EPA agreed with GAO's recommendations and stated that the agency has either begun to or plans to implement them.

For more information, contact J. Alfredo Gómez at (202) 512-3841 or gomezj@gao.gov.

Enjoy!

"This world is not one, in which certainty is possible. If you think you've achieved certainty, you are almost certainly mistaken, and that is one of the few things you could be certain about." - Bernard Russell

Tuesday, 03 March 2020

A little bit crowded up here in the top section, but I thought there were a lot of interesting opportunities this week and also just want to flag that a lot of jobs popped up late with short deadlines, especially a good number that are due today.

Also, my regular work kicked me in the butt the last week, so I’m a bit behind. I will try to get out a list of jobs with no deadlines that I have before the end of the week. All the jobs with deadlines before next week’s list are up on the site.